A blog of the Center for Judicial Ethics of the National Center for State Courts

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What a difference a year makes

In January 2014, Michael Maggio was a circuit court judge running for the Arkansas Court of Appeals. In March, he was exposed as “geauxjudge,” the writer of posts on Tiger Droppings, an LSU fan-site; his posts included comments regarding the closed adoption of a famous actress; inappropriate statements about official duties, pending cases, and independent investigations; and inappropriate gender, race, and sexually related statements. He dropped out of the race and was removed from office by the Arkansas Supreme Court on September 11, based on the posts and other misconduct. Today, January 9, 2015, he pled guilty to taking bribes — in the form of campaign contributions — to reduce a $5.2 million jury verdict in favor of a nursing home.